Medvedev to finalize instructions to improve life of pensioners

MOSCOW, October 25 (KATAKAMI / Itar-Tass) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will hold a meeting of the State Council presidium devoted to improving the life of elderly people on Monday.

The president handles actively the problems of pensioners in the past four weeks. He held about ten meetings on pressing problems for elderly people. Medvedev explained his attention to this problem by the fact that about 40 million pensioners live in Russia.

On September 20, the president instructed Minister of Health and Social Development Tatiana Golikova “to set the priorities to improve the life of pensioners, examine the financial component, and to give close attention to pensions, medical services, medicine supplies and related issues.”

“The life quality in the country is showed by the life level of elderly people,” the president said with confidence. Therefore, Medvedev believes that the scope of basic approaches to the pension problem, including the retirement age, should be revised, but there are no ready answers yet.

“Our country is turning into a state of elderly people. There is nothing bad about it, this means that we live longer,” the president pointed out. “Anyway, it is a positive process, but we should prepare for it,” Medvedev remarked.

On International Day of Older People marked on October 1, Medvedev stated in his video blog that the care of older people is the top priority for the state and the whole society.

The president also noted that a considerable part of addresses to him are made from elderly people. “They are writing about their problems related with medical services and medicines, some difficulties to pay utility bills and about pensions. They are writing how difficult to find a job for them and about a lack of demand for them,” Medvedev said.